Project Overview
FanMeet is a platform that extends the live music event experiences of fans beyond the venue by building a vibrant community within fandoms, and increases the visibility of local businesses to help them benefit from fandom-based tourism.
Timeline
September - October 2023
Context
This is a solo case study to showcase my skills and enrich my portfolio with a topic I am passionate about.
My Roles
User research, building solutions, creating wireframes, prototypes, and a design system, as well as conducting usability tests.
Shortcuts
Exploring the Situation
I started this project with the aim of finding ways to improve concert experience for people. For the research, I aimed to understand the external factors influencing a fan's concert experience beyond the artist's performance and the concert itself.
Besides seeing their favorite artists, what are the motivations of fans to attend concerts?
What are the main patterns and dynamics within a concert-goer's overall experience?
How do social interactions among fans contribute to the overall concert experience?
Desk Research Findings
In their 2016 study, Kulczynski, Baxter, and Young mention two of ten motivations for attending popular music concerts:
The status enhancement: wanting to earn "bragging rights" and increase "fan" status through attendance,
Social interactions: the joy of interacting with like-minded people and feeling part of a group.
These two motivations can be easily seen through fan platforms on social media. Social media has strengthened fan communities, providing a hub to share admiration for artists, concert memories, updates, and even find concert buddies.
A survey of Innerbody with 850 US participants revealed that 48% of the people consider travel and accommodation as their main expenses, followed by food and drink. This data implies that many are willing to travel to other cities or countries for a concert.
Recent statistics from music festivals and tours by famous artists show that such events boost local economies by attracting tourists, creating jobs, and benefiting local businesses. To attract customers, businesses sometimes offer themed menus, special events, and even artist-inspired room services.
“Fan experience” is also taken very seriously by artists' management companies. Major entertainment companies have initiatives to redesign these city-fan interactions.
Assumptions After Desk Research
To fully understand the picture from the fans’ perspective, and verify these assumptions, I had to hear more from fans.
User Interviews
I interviewed five music fans who have attended at least one concert of their favorite artists. This group also included people who traveled to another city for a concert. I focused on young adults/adults aged 18-40 (Gen Z and millennials who can independently travel).
Through these interviews, I aimed to understand:
What is included in their definition of the "whole concert experience"
Their motivations, behaviors, and pain points from previous concert experiences
Their process for planning concert trips
Their involvement and potential social interactions within fan communities
I built an affinity diagram to analyze and summarize all the information I received through these interviews.
Here are the insights I discovered from our delightful conversations:
Fans, particularly those attending concerts solo, greatly appreciate interacting with others at and around the concert venue. They sometimes join fan gatherings announced on social media platforms, and engaging with other fans feels natural to them.
However, finding information about these meetings and updates can take time and effort. The information is spread across various social media platforms, and unrelated fan discussions often overshadow such announcements.
Fans enjoy seeing special events and services inspired by their favorite artists. They appreciate recognition from local businesses and diverse options for celebrating their favorites.
For fans attending concerts in different cities, finding budget-friendly solutions for accommodation and food is crucial as the majority of their budget is often allocated to the ticket itself. They are generally open to splitting costs with fans and arranging their travels together.
Hold on - are we onto something?
The insights from the user interviews validated my assumptions and the direction I needed to explore. Fans feel comfortable with the traditional methods for arranging their trips and accommodations through the apps they already know. However, connecting with concert-goers and discovering fan-targeted attractions would be the main focus to address.
Empathizing with Users
Based on the information gathered from user interviews and online research on fan platforms, I created a persona, Sarah, to understand her concert journey and her expectations and needs from this experience as a music fan.
From fans' perspective, a "concert experience" is an exciting adventure that extends far beyond the show's duration. From the moment they learn about the event to the post-concert blues, the experience includes multiple phases and key moments.
From Insights to "How Might We"s
Identifying the primary actions and potential challenges of a concert-goer helped me to address the main issue and formulate specific questions to work on during the ideation process.
Ideation and Building a Strategy
The ideation stage was fun! I set a five-minute timer and let my creativity fly by noting down all the ideas that popped into my head following these HMW questions.
After this fruitful solo brainstorming session, I assessed the concepts, connected and grouped some, and prioritized my ideas based on their effort required and potential impact. This process helped me form the backbone of "FanMeet".
FanMeet is dedicated to providing a digital space encouraging enthusiastic concert-goers to build connections and foster a stronger fan community. It aims to offer a platform for online interactions before and after the big day, collecting all concert-related activities and pinpointing potential spots for exclusive fan offers.
Here are the main features of the MVP:
Artist-Based Concert Tracking
Artist pages allow fans to keep up with their favorite artists' schedule updates. The app also utilizes user data to provide personalized recommendations and notifications such as upcoming concerts, ticket availability, venue details, etc.
Concert-Based Forums for Fan Engagement
Concert-based forums allow concert-goers to connect earlier, ask their questions, share experiences, discuss local offers, and relive their concert experiences by sharing memories after the event.
Bulletin Board for Fan Meetings Around the City
A corner for users to create and find fan meetups happening near the concert venue. In this space, fans can organize pre- and post-concert gatherings, share meetup details, and interact with other attendees.
Corner for Local Business Offers
A section that displays special discounts or promotions businesses offer to concert attendees. Both fans and vendors can update this section.
Fan Profiles and Communication Between Fans
Fan profiles include the artists they like, the events they attended, and their badges to proudly showcase their experiences. Concert-goers can check each other's profiles and individually connect through private messaging to share experiences and discuss their plans.
Information Architecture
The product is designed to help users easily find all the information they need by accessing concerts through the artists they like.
Usability Testing
After completing mid-fidelity wireframes, I conducted five usability tests through Zoom calls, gathering feedback from testers who actively use social media to communicate with other fans:
The task completion rate reached a satisfying 100% score.
However, there was confusion in understanding some distinctions between event types and recommendations. Three out of five participants stated that further visibility on recommendations, in addition to notifications, would serve them better.
All the testers appreciated the concert-based discussions and events, yet stated that all the content under concert pages could be simplified.
Based on the outcomes, I identified key improvements and refined the design to better meet users' needs.
Visual Design
The visual world of FanMeet is inspired by the delightful blend of dark shadows and the bright spotlights of a concert venue. The choice of purple color comes from these spotlights, highlighting the rarity of those magical moments.
What's Next?
How About Business Value in the Future?
In essence, FanMeet caters to concert-goers by providing extended engagement opportunities and potential external offers. By doing so, FanMeet not only enhances fan satisfaction, but also opens opportunities for new revenue streams, strategic partnerships, and a targeted advertising platform for local businesses. There are several potentials behind this solution:
What I'd Love to See Next
Even though this started as a passion project to hone my skills, I can't help but get excited about the huge potential to expand what this product could do and uncover more amazing opportunities.
I would have appreciated an opportunity to engage in conversations with local business owners near concert halls and arenas. This would have helped me understand their perspectives and strategies better.
If I were to work on future iterations, I would love to explore these:
A system where fans receive exclusive content and offers, potentially involving the artist and their management team
Using the badges offered in the MVP to encourage interactive challenges among fans, rewarding them with special offers, discounts, and merchandise gifts
Real-time interactions to enhance the concert experience, such as polls where fans can vote for the next song during the concert.
